Television

Essel to back Jazbaa’s robust release with aggressive promotions

MUMBAI: Gone are the days when an all India release of a movie used to make headlines for robust distribution. Gradually Bollywood has emerged as a global affair not only for the Indian diaspora but also for the vernacular audience.

Essel Vision is leaving no stone unturned to ensure an enhanced reach for its upcoming Hindi movie Jazbaa. With multilingual audio and simulcast release across the globe, Essel has plans of garnishing the movie in an exquisite manner.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Essel Vision Productions business head Akash Chawla says, “This is the first time an Indian movie will have a simulcast release in the Middle East with an Arabic dub. We are also looking to have a dubbed release for Spanish and English market alongside Hindi release for the Indian diaspora.”

Digital will spearhead the promotional and marketing strategy for the movie. “The promotional strategies will be backed by Zee all through. Zee has a huge bouquet of channels and we will be promoting the movie across all of them in both international and Indian markets,” he adds.

There will be a mega trailer launch on the sets of Dance India Dance, which will reach out to mass. In the US, the producers plan to launch a promotional tour on 17 September, 2015. A series of activities are also on the cards for the premiere of the movie, which is scheduled on 9 October, 2015.

MSM Motion Pictures’ recently produced Piku showed how brand integration can be a substantial source of revenue for producers. When queried if Jazbaa will also have brands integrated in the movie, Chawla says, “There are a few brands that are subtly placed in the movie but we kept the number as low as possible because we did not want interrupt viewers. I don’t think brand integration is yet a substantial source of revenue when it comes to movies.”

Essel Group took the decision of fully entering into film production with Jazbaa after tasting success with Lunchbox and D-Day as co-producers. The movie, which stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Irrfan Khan, is directed by Sanjay Gupta. The movie tells the story of an advocate who is stuck between professional life and motherhood.

Chawla is optimistic about the movie’s success globally. “We will have as robust release as possible and rest will depend on audience,” he says.